Cardinal staff: Does “It” deserve the hype?

Megan Brewer

3 months ago

It Poster, movie, horror, scary

By Staff —

Director Andy Muschietti’s “It” remake has swept the movie scene, holding the number one spot in the box office two weeks after its release and earning more than $371 million worldwide. The Cardinal staff reviews the movie and say whether it’s worth seeing.

Kyeland Jackson

“It” wasn’t the best scary movie I’ve seen, but it was a great one.

The movie blends nostalgia and new movie effects really well, and brings genuinely interesting characters to the plot. That plot is admittedly messy.

Horror scenes seem to come at every moment so the movies intensity peaks and settles quickly throughout. Where the movie excelled was in the horror. “It” brings a genuinely scary creature which adjusts to your fears and plays on that, making each scene affect audiences differently. At its center is Pennywise the clown, whose off-handed humor and indiscriminate killing unsettles and unnerves. Through him and various scenes in the movie, I was genuinely disturbed.

Go see “It.” It may not be the greatest scary movie around, but it is better than many movies in the genre.

Megan Brewer

“It” could have been better. The movie could have done better without the few “jump-scares” and instead rolled with the subtle creepiness most of the scenes had.

The movie was over two hours long, but still the plot seemed underdeveloped. There was a full cast of pre-teens so you only got to see a glimpse into why their biggest fear was what it was. The clown Pennywise pried on their biggest fear, so having more of a background knowledge would’ve heightened the thrill.

The end of the movie was unclear and left me feeling like I needed to look up exactly what was going on. It felt rushed and out of place, almost as if they had to squeeze in the good guys winning to end the movie.

“It” wasn’t worth the two hours spent watching it.

Shelby Brown

“It” did not disappoint. While there were a few “jump-scares,” the creep factor was high. While I anticipated to have the horror thrown in my face, many of the frightening parts were lurking in the background. It plays against expectations to have the scary things in the corner of the eye or just over the shoulder.

The movie had a great cast, developing likable characters. “It” harkens to eighties movies like “Stand By Me” and “The Goonies,” banding together a scrappy group of kids.

“It” seeks to appeal to a younger generation. While the original clocks in at almost three and a half hours, the new film seems to be gearing for a sequel. While splitting the film is probably for the cash, a sequel could make the massive plot more consumer-friendly.